Mike Ashley in the frame to acquire Agent Provocateur

The label’s majority shareholder, the private equity group 3i, has been seeking bids on the business as it looks to exit 10 years after paying £60m for its 80% stake. It was forced to write down its investment by £39m and inject further cash into the business last autumn after accounting irregularities were revealed and it was hit by tough trading.

In January it was revealed that restructuring expert Alix Partners had been appointed to work on an turnaround plan ahead of an imminent auction of the business to be handled by Rothschild. A previous attempt to sell the business in 2014 had been abandoned after no buyer was found.

According to The Times, Ashley’s Sports Direct is now believed to be up against French retailer Etam and private equity businesses Lion Capital and Terra Firma Capital Partners in the race to acquire Agent Provocateur, which was established in 1994 by Joe Corré, who is the son of Dame Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm Maclaren, and his then wife Serena Rees. 3i had been hoping to secure bids in excess of £30m to cover the brand’s financial liabilities.

If successful Ashley will, apparently, retain the brand’s 11 UK stores (it is available in about 100 stores worldwide and on its website) and sell it in his Sports Direct USC fashion stores as part of a move to take them more upmarket.

Lauretta Roberts is managing director and Editor-in-Chief of The Industry, having acquired the business along with business partner Antony Hawman in July 2015. She is also the former director of brand & propositions of trend forecaster WGSN and a former editor of Drapers magazine.

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